[PHOTO: Sarah Stier]

Yuka Saso had a US Women’s Open title to her credit, having won the 2021 edition at Olympic Club about a month short of her 20th birthday. As such, she knew the two-shot deficit she faced heading into the final round at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania was well within reach. She rebounded from a four-putt double-bogey with four birdies on the final nine to become the youngest player to win two US Women’s Opens.

That four-putt came on the sixth hole, but from there on our Saso was money. At the treacherous 149-metre, par-3 12th, Saso dropped her tee shot 10-and-a-half feet from the hole and made the putt. On the next hole, Saso clipped a nifty wedge from 67 metres to a few feet on the par-5 13th to take the lead. Minjee Lee then watched as her tee shot on 12 hit the green but rolled back in the water – the same hole where Nelly Korda took 10 in the opening round.

On the par-4 15th, Saso pured a 5-iron from 173 metres that caught the slope and rolled to within six feet. The ensuing putt dropped, stretching the lead to two, and when Saso drove the green with her tee shot at the par-4 16th for a fourth birdie in five holes, it gave her the cushion she needed to offset a three-putt bogey at 17 and secure her second open win.

That 5-iron was a Callaway Apex CB, part of a split set of irons where the 4 and 5-irons are the CB and the 6-iron through 9-iron are the company’s 2021 model.

It was off the tee and on the green, however, where Saso won the US Women’s Open. She ranked third in driving distance at 280.7 yards (256.7 metres) and third in strokes gained off the tee as well, gaining 1.18 shots on the field with her 9-degree Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver. And despite the four-putt stumble, Saso ranked first in strokes gained/putting, grabbing 3.4 shots on the field.

Not to mention grabbing the Harton S. Semple trophy given to the champion in the process.

What Yuka Saso had in the bag at the 2024 US Women’s Open:

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, 9 degrees

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max, 16.5 degrees

5-wood: Callaway Apex UW, 18 degrees

Irons (4-5): Callaway Apex CB; (6-9): Callaway Apex MB 21

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (46, 52, 56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled 3T

The post The clubs Yuka Saso used to win the 2024 US Women’s Open appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: David Cannon]

They say you can’t win a tournament on the first day, but Xander Schauffele won the 2024 PGA Championship largely on the back of an opening-round 62 that tied the low round in major-championship history. That, along with ensuing rounds of 68-68-65, was enough for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau for his eighth PGA Tour win and long-awaited first major championship thanks to a final-hole birdie.

Schauffele had so many parts of his game working at Valhalla that it’s difficult to single out any one facet as being the key. Driving it well helps, however, and Schauffele did that, hitting it long (283.6 metres/310.1 yards, ranked 15th) and straight (ranked 16th in fairways hit).

Schauffele put Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver in play at the start of the season. The club is the most compact driver in the line and is designed for high swing-speed players seeking to reduce spin. The 10.5-degree head has a 45½-inch Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70TX shaft that is tipped one inch. The adjustable weights are set at seven grams in front and nine grams in back, allowing him to work the ball both ways.

PGA Championship 2024: Xander Schauffele wins at Valhalla with 72nd-hole birdie

Into the greens, Schauffele swung his Callaway Apex TCB irons to great effect as well. The irons, fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue 100X shafts, have a decidedly classic look thanks to a relatively straight leading edge, thin topline and a hosel transition that looks like they were made for a tour player. But the clubs have tungsten weighting that makes them play more forgiving than they look.

“When I was 13 to 15 years old, I played blades and I quickly learned they were not good for me,” Schauffele told Golf Digest when he first put the irons in play. “No reason to make the game harder.”

Schauffele ranked third in strokes gained/approach the green, picking up nearly eight shots on the field. He also was first in greens in regulation for the week, hitting a remarkable 84.72 percent. The work with the driver and irons is a continuation of his season as he currently ranks second on the PGA Tour this year in strokes gained/tee to green.

Asked on Saturday what his mindset going into the final day would be, Schauffele simply said, “I think I need to really just stay in my lane and do a lot of what I’ve been doing and just worry about myself.”

Well said. And well done.

What Xander Schauffele had in the bag at the 2024 PGA Championship:

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70TX), 10.5 degrees

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, 15 degrees

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW, 21 degrees

Irons (4-PW): Callaway Apex TCB

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM10 (56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM10 WedgeWorks

Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas Prototype

MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE

The post PGA Championship 2024: The clubs Xander Schauffele used to win at Valhalla appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[Sponsor content]

MIN Woo Lee was in trouble. The chef was not cooking, four over par through six holes.

He had made bogeys on Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 6. He failed to birdie the par-5 second despite hitting the green in two. He drove it into the greenside bunker on the short par-4 third and only made par.

But as he has told us before, “Let him cook.”

Let him have some time to brew something up and the chef will deliver. And he very nearly did.

The Perth native and Callaway star blasted his drive up the par-5 eighth and had an iron in for his second. He overshot the green, but crafted a delicate pitch shot to five feet and made the birdie putt.

At the famous par-3 12^th, he finessed a three-quarter iron shot from the tee to almost tap-in range and drained the bridie. At the par-5 13^th, Lee needed just a 3-wood from the tee to the right rough, where he shaped a beautiful draw off a lie well above his feet and made the 15-foot eagle.

But that’s where Lee’s furious charge back ended. He made bogey at the par-4 14^th and par-3 16^th.

In all, the stats told the story. Lee hit 10 of 14 fairways using his Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond S, but hit only nine of 18 greens. He simply was not good enough with his irons, apart from the tee shot on No.12 and the second shot into No.13.

Lee, who broke his finger in the gym last week, will no doubt be fired up to craft a good second round to make the cut in this third Masters.

Nicolai Hojgaard was the leading Callaway player at five under through 16 holes when play was suspended just before 8pm local time.

What’s in the bag: Min Woo Lee

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond S

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond High Launch

Driving iron: Callaway X-Forged UT

Irons: Callaway Apex MB (4-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 5 Jaws (50)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Double Wide, Odyssey Stroke Lab 70 shaft

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X

Meanwhile, Jasper Stubbs, the Victorian amateur, had a tough day at the office. After getting to one under through three holes, Stubbs played his next 15 holes in 11 over to shoot an eight-over 80.

“I was pretty nervous walking on to the tee of No. 1,” Stubbs said of his Masters debut. “It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I felt ready to play a good round of golf. I got off to a decent start after that.”

Stubbs, a Callaway star of the future and Asia Pacific Amateur champion, vowed to come back stronger for Friday’s second round.

“Yeah, that’s the plan, learn something from today and try and come out tomorrow, and I’ll do my best to still make the cut, but yeah, we’ll just try and have as low a round as we can tomorrow.”

What’s in the bag: Jasper Stubbs

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

Irons: Callaway Apex UT ’24 (20°) and Callaway Apex CB (4-10-iron)

Wedges: Callaway JAWS Raw (50, 56, 60)

The post Masters 2024: Min Woo Lee’s crazy fightback, Nicolai Hojgaard in the mix, Stubbs’ Augusta debut round appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Sponsor content

Valero Texas Open winner Akshay Bhatia says his commitment to using an Odyssey broomstick putter is the one constant in a whirlwind week that saw him scrambling to fly to Augusta National after punching the very last ticket into the Masters.

Bhatia, a 22-year-old Californian, recently switched to the Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 broomstick putter having gone through his performance statistics on the PGA Tour. The move paid off when Bhatia won at TPC San Antonio in a sudden-death playoff, and given he was not already eligible for the 88th Masters, Bhatia secured a Masters debut 10 years after competing in Augusta National’s Drive, Chip and Putt finals as a 12-year-old.

“I’ve built a really nice team around me, people that I trust, and we went through kind of the stats last year of what I can improve on,” Bhatia said Monday at Augusta National. “My ball striking was always really good, and putting always lacked. When you want to contend in tournaments, you got to make some putts when they count. I just felt like the style I was using previous was good, but it just wasn’t as consistent. We took a chance on switching to the broomstick, and I talked to a couple players about it, and they gave me some good advice, just what to work on. I made a promise to myself that I’m going to take at least six months to try this putter out, regardless of how it goes, and so far my stats have kind of skyrocketed. It’s a nice improvement, especially from kind of the 10- to 15-feet range.”

Bhatia’s gamer, the Versa Jailbird 380 model, is a broomstick design that incorporates Odyssey’s Versa high contrast alignment in the distinct Jailbird shape.

The switch paid off with Bhatia gaining 2.376 shots on the field on the greens in San Antonio, ranking 24th. That is ominous for other players considering how potent Bhatia’s driving and iron play is. Bhatia uses the  Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees), and he ranked sixth in the field (4.268 shots) last week for strokes gained: off the tee. He also uses the Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW), and last week he gained an astonishing 8.225 shots on the field.

Bhatia’s breakthrough on the greens will no doubt aid his Masters quest given Augusta National requires deft touch with the putter on the quadrants and shelves on the putting surfaces. That will combine with his stellar approach play, a necessity at a golf course nicknamed the hardest second-shot golf course in the majors.

What’s in the bag: Akshay Bhatia

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS

Fairway wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW prototype

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw

Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Meanwhile, fellow Callaway superstar Jon Rahm, the defending Masters champion this week at Augusta National, is preparing for his shot at a third major title. Having already won the US Open in 2021 and last year’s Masters, Rahm, 29, will no doubt feel less pressure this week than before he donned the green jacket. The only anxiety he held pre-tournament was ensuring all the past winners at Tuesday’s night’s Champions Dinner enjoyed his Spanish-inspired menu.

“Well, everybody I talked to seems very excited about the menu, which, if anything, has put a lot more pressure on me, even though I’m not cooking, right. So, yeah, I’m definitely a little nervous,” Rahm said. “It is quite daunting to think about the room you’re going to be in and having to stand up and talk to that group of players, right. I mean, it’s basically all the living legends in this game, active and non-active. Everybody who’s been somebody in this game is there. So as wonderful as it is to be a part of, it’s still, yeah, a little nerve-wracking for sure.”

What’s in the bag: Jon Rahm

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke 

Fairways Woods: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond T

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro, (UT) Callaway Apex TCB (5-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52, 56, 60)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Rossie S

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X

Meanwhile, Australia’s contingent of Callaway stars at the Masters sits at two, led by three-time DP World Tour winner and recent runner up at the PGA Tour’s Palm Beach Gardens stop, Min Woo Lee, as well as amateur Jasper Stubbs.

Lee, 25, played a practice round Tuesday at 1pm with three of his fellow Australian competitors. Lee is coming off a maiden top five at the majors last year, when he tied for fifth at the 2023 US Open. He also tied for 14th at the 2022 Masters. 

Lee broke his right finger in the gym last week but appeared to be managing the pain in Tuesday’s practice round. He said it wasn’t affecting him.

“No, that’s the funny thing. A few days afterwards, and it was pretty average when I was hitting chip shots. But today I played a full nine holes and hit some decent shots so I’m surprised and I think it was very lucky. I still went to the gym last week as much as I could. Obviously didn’t do that exercise. Every time I looked at that 20-pound dumb bell, yeah, gave it a death stare.”

Lee is ecstatic for his third Masters.

“Yeah, it is a very special place, and really grateful to be here. The Masters is all the way up there. It’s my favourite place in the world. It’s just a place of visualization. I really enjoy it. Not many straight shots or straight things out here, so I like to see the shape.”

Stubbs secured his major debut at the Masters back in October when he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at his home course, Royal Melbourne. Since then, Stubbs has made a reconnaissance trip to Augusta National while he also sought the advice of Australia’s PGA Tour elite about the world’s most recognisable course. Among the advice offered was to practise hitting iron shots from a downhill, sidehill lie in preparation for the second shot into the par-5 13th. He did so at the PGA Tour of Australasia’s headquarters at Sandy Golf Links on the Melbourne sandbelt. “It’s got lots of slopes that you can hit range balls off, which was awesome for this week, obviously being one of the slope-iest [courses] of the year. I was practising all kind of different slopes, which was cool to be able to do that at home,” Stubbs said on Monday at Augusta during a press conference.

Stubbs, 22, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which is jointly run by Augusta National, at the Composite course at Royal Melbourne in a playoff, where he sunk two clutch birdie putts – in regulation and extra holes – to secure his invitation to the Masters.  Stubbs is a member at Royal Melbourne, where the West course was designed by Alister McKenzie, also the architect behind Augusta National. Stubbs said the sloped, quick greens had been adequate preparation for Augusta.  “I think they’re both pretty similar in the way that they’re both very firm and fast greens,” he said. “I think the course is a bit hillier here from the fairways. But definitely, once you’re on the greens, Royal Melbourne and Augusta are pretty close in how fast you can get a downhill putt and how much they break.”  

Stubbs’ prep also included a February trip to Augusta National to play three days’ worth of practice rounds with a member, in order to soak up the aura well before Masters week. “We basically had the course to ourselves; it was around Valentine’s Day,” Stubbs said.

Using his Odyssey White Hot OG 1WS, Stubbs had been preparing in earnest on the slick, sloped greens at Royal Melbourne’s West course before arriving at Augusta National. Both courses were designed by celebrated Gold Age architect Dr Alister MacKenzie.

“I think they’re both pretty similar in the way that they’re both very firm and fast greens. I think the course is a bit hillier here from the fairways. But definitely, once you’re on the greens, Royal Melbourne and Augusta are pretty close in how fast you can get a downhill putt and how much they break.”

What’s in the bag: Min Woo Lee

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond S

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond High Launch

Driving iron: Callaway X-Forged UT

Irons: Callaway Apex MB (4-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 5 Jaws (50)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Double Wide, Odyssey Stroke Lab 70 shaft

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X

What’s in the bag: Jasper Stubbs

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

Irons: Callaway Apex UT ’24 (20°) and Callaway Apex CB (4-10-iron)

Wedges: Callaway JAWS Raw (50, 56, 60)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 1WS

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X

The post Callaway preview: Masters edition appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: Brennan Asplen]

After the third round of the Valero Texas Open, a reporter asked Akshay Bhatia what he had written on his wrist prior to the round.

“It just says ‘race my race’,” Bhatia said. “I’m just going at my own pace, focusing on myself, keeping the blinders right in front of me. I look at that all the time because you can get caught up in a lot of things out here and if I’m just kind of doing my own thing and trying not to let outside stuff bother me, then I just can focus on myself and whatever the outcome is, it is.”

The outcome today was his second PGA Tour victory – an overtime victory over Denny McCarthy that was as impressive for Bhatia’s ability to stay in the moment as it was for his inspired play given the other-worldly birdie barrage from McCarthy, who birdied eight of the last nine holes that forced Bhatia to make a nervy 11-footer at the last just to get into overtime.

The lanky (some might say spindly) left-hander opened with back-to-back birdies in the final round and added another two holes later. By the time he made the turn, he was six shots in front of McCarthy. Normally a two-under 34 would be good enough to take care of business coming in, but McCarthy’s 28 led to free golf. Unfortunately for McCarthy, his run came to a crushing end when he chunked his approach into the water at the par-5 18th – the first playoff hole – essentially handing the win to Bhatia.

Akshay Bhatia holds on to earn the last Masters invite after blowout in Texas turns wild with Denny McCarthy’s 8 back-nine birdies

Despite the extra work, Bhatia became the first wire-to-wire winner in the event since Bob Estes in 1994. The win also gave Bhatia his first Masters berth although he is not unfamiliar with being on the grounds of Augusta National. Bhatia qualified for the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt competition in 2014, finishing sixth in the boys 12-13 age group. He becomes the first DCP participant to play in the Masters, when he tees it up at Augusta National.

Bhatia did a little better at TPC San Antonio and he did it with a superior tee-to-green play. Bhatia used his 9-degree Callaway Rogue ST Max driver to rank eighth is distance at 317.1 yards (290.0 metres) per pop as well as sixth in strokes gained/off-the-tee, nabbing more than four strokes on the field. Into the greens he was on target with his Callaway Apex TCB Raw irons with KBS $-Taper 125 S+ shafts, ranking first in strokes gained/approach-the-green (gaining more than eight shots on the field) and first in greens in regulation.

In other words, Bhatia ran his race, even if needed to go a little further than he expected to.

What Akshay Bhatia had in the bag at the 2024 Valero Texas Open:

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS, (Fujikura Ventus Black 7X), 9 degrees

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke max, 15 degrees

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW, 19 degrees

Irons (3): Callaway X Forged UT; (5-PW): Callaway Apex TCB Raw

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50, 54, 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 Long

The post The clubs Akshay Bhatia used to win the 2024 Valero Texas Open appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[Sponsor content]

A stunning 72^nd hole eagle may not have been enough to win the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic, but fan favourite Kiradech Aphibarnrat logged the best finish by a Callaway player across the major tours last week.

Thai golf star Aphibarnrat birdied the third, fifth, seventh and eighth holes at Laguna National during the final round, although his hopes of victory looked slim when he bogeyed the 12th. But Aphibarnrat salvaged his charge when he made birdie at the par-5 14th, then hit it to six feet and made birdie at the 15^th before holing a long birdie putt at the 16th to share the lead.

Aphibarnrat came up clutch when he needed a 3 at the par-5 18^th to set up a playoff. He fired a laser-like fairway metal for his second shot to 15 feet from the hole and drained the eagle to lay the platform for extra holes. Aphibarnrat’s blistering 64 meant he finished at 17 under par – good enough to secure extra time.

After a birdie and a par in sudden death, Aphibarnrat misjudged his approach shot over the back of the green on the third extra hole and made a bogey. That dropped him to a runner-up finish.

All round, the Singapore Classic was a good tournament for Callaway ambassadors with Sam Bairstow (68) in solo third place at 16 under, although only a shot outside the playoff with Aphibarnrat.

Australian Callaway star David Micheluzzi, who earned his DP World Tour card via winning the Australasian tour’s order of merit last year, was at times leading outright or co-leading on the front nine and into the early part of the back nine before a nightmarish two holes. He made double-bogeys at the par-3 11^th and par-4 12^th to drop four shots. But the Victorian showed true fight when he added two birdies coming home to finish at 12 under par after a 73, sharing seventh place.

Meanwhile on the PGA Tour, Xander Schauffele, for the second week in a row, was the leading Callaway ambassador on the men’s tour in the US with a final-round 65 lifting him to tie for fifth at the Valspar championship, outside Tampa. World No.5 Schauffele finished at eight under par and just four shots off the winner.

Unlike last week’s Players Championship, where Schauffele tied for second, he wasn’t alone as the top Callaway player at the tournament.

With his Paradym Ai Smoke driver, Schauffele was ranked No.5 for the Valspar in strokes gained off tee, gaining 3.184 shots on the field. He was accurate at the narrow corridors of the Copperhead course, too, finding 33 of 52 fairways to rank T12 in driving accuracy. In the short game, 2021 Olympic gold medallist Schauffele was tidy – ranking 13^th for strokes gained around greens. He gained 3.023 shots on the field with his short game.

“65 [in a final round] is obviously not something I’m going to complain about, but I missed a few [putts] and made some silly mistakes early in my round,” Schauffele said Sunday. “Then I had a snap-out-of-it moment on 11, and it kind of paid off coming in.”

Indeed his mood change paid off. On the par-5 11^th, the San Diego native blasted his Ai Smoke driver 323 yards down the left side of the fairway, before rifling a 238-yard second shot to 10 feet. He drained the eagle and it kickstarted his run. He sank a 35-foot birdie from the fringe on No.12, and hit it to two feet for birdie on No.13. At the par-5 14, Schauffele obliterated his tee shot 333 yards down the fairway before hitting his second shot just short of the green, getting down in two for birdie.

Schauffele said the slow play on Sunday fired him up.

“I think we waited on 15 of our holes today, so I was getting a little testy, a little impatient, and I told [my caddie] Austin, I’m going to start trying,” he said. “Like, I need to try to focus more. Not that I wasn’t trying, I just needed to try and focus more and lock in because it felt like there were such big breaks between shots, it was hard to get into any flow. I think once I locked in and accepted what was happening, I started to hit better shots.”

Callaway stars Carl Yuan, from China, and Canada’s Adam Hadwin also tied fifth at eight under. South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout continued his hot play on the PGA Tour. After a T11 at the Players Championship last week and a runner-up result at The American Express in January, Bezuidenhout tied for ninth at Valspar at seven under.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE WHAT’S IN THE BAG

Driver Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, 10.5°

Fairway woods: Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway

Irons: Apex utility 23 degrees, Apex TCB irons (4-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH

Separately, Callaway stars are playing their way into the PGA Tour’s Signature events through consistent performances.  The next Signature Event on the schedule is the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the week after the Masters. There are two categories for the Heritage, both the Next 10 (current season-long FedEx Cup standings) and the Swing 5 (FedEx Cup points accumulated specifically in events held between Signature tournaments). The cut-off for the Next 10 is through the Masters Tournament while the events for the Swing 5 that will yield five spots into the Heritage are the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and Valero Texas Open. Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen are currently in the Next 10, while Brice Garnett, and Carl Yuan are Callaway players inside the Swing 5.

On the LPGA Tour, Andrea Lee was the best of the Callaway players at the FIR Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Estate near Long Beach, California. Lee picked up three shots in her final round to finish at seven under par and two shots shy of a playoff. Fellow Callaway player Ruoning “Ronni” Yin was a shor further back at six under, tied eighth.

The post Callaway wrap: Aphibarnrat second in Singapore and Micheluzzi seventh after crazy finish, Schauffele continues hot form on the PGA Tour appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[Sponsor content]

A hot week in every statistical category wasn’t enough for Callaway star Xander Schauffele to get over the line at the Players Championship, although a tie for second at TPC Sawgrass shows promise for the upcoming Masters at Augusta National.

The San Diego native enjoyed a complete performance around the tricky Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Schauffele was ranked in the top 20 in all four major strokes gained categories: off the tee he was 18^th, approach the green he was 14^th, around the green he was 13^th and putting he was eighth.

With his red Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH, Schauffele was masterful on the greens for four rounds at TPC Sawgrass. He didn’t need more than 30 putts in any round and on day three went around the Stadium course with just 23 putts.

One putt he likely would want a mulligan on was the short birdie putt at the famed par-3 17^th. Schauffele took on the Sunday pin position on the righthand side, much to the delight of the crowd, with his 52-degree Jaws Raw wedge for the 137-yard tee shot. He hit one of the shots of the week, the ball settling seven feet from the hole. But Schauffele pulled the putt left, missing out on the chance to join the lead. On No.18, needing birdie to force a playoff, world No.5 Schauffele hit his tee shot through the fairway and into the pine straw on the right. He was unable to get it close enough to the hole for a good look at birdie.

Schauffele’s five birdies and three bogeys gave him a final round of 70, and he was tied second at 19 under par, one shot back of the winner.

“I’d say my “A” game would be a little bit more than 2-under but I hung in there,” Schauffele said after his final round. “I gave myself a realistic chance. Not on 18, but on 17. If I made that [birdie], it could have been a different story.

“My dad told me a long time ago to commit, execute, and accept. I’m swallowing a heavy dose of acceptance right now, but that’s kind of what I did. I tried to commit, I executed poorly on some shots, and here I am accepting it.

“I’m going to lick my wounds. I’ll probably join [critics who tick this up as another close call for me] in the ‘Hateraide’ at this moment. But it is what it is. These [close calls] suck. When I went to bed last night, it’s not exactly how I envisioned walking off the 18th green. I’ll lick my wounds and right back to it next week.”

Schauffele, who finished T2 in 2018, is one of 10 players in the 50-year history of the Players with multiple runner-up finishes (no one has more than two).

“A ton of positives; I haven’t cracked an egg since they moved this tournament to this time of year [March from its previous May slot] … to hang in there with the best [players] is good for me to know.”

Schauffele will play next week’s Valspar Championship before gearing up for the year’s first major at the Masters in mid-April. Schauffele has three top 10s at the Masters, including a T2 in 2019 and a T3 in 2021, as well as a T10 last year.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE WHAT’S IN THE BAG

Driver Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, 10.5°

Fairway woods: Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway

Irons: Apex utility 23 degrees, Apex TCB irons (4-PW)

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH

Meanwhile, two other Callaway ambassadors fared well at the Players Championship, considered golf’s unofficial fifth major. Si Woo Kim, the 2017 winner at TPC Sawgrass, was just four shots behind Schauffele in a tie for sixth after a final-round 64. It was the equal-lowest round of the day. Kim finished the week ranked ninth in both strokes gained off the tee and in putting. Kim was driving for show with his Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver and putting for dough using his Odyssey 2 Ball 10 (long). He gained 3.864 shots on the field from off the tee and a whopping 4.790 shots on the greens.

Christiaan Beziudenhout was the other Callaway staffer to finish in the top 15 at Sawgrass with his 11-under total earning a share of 13^th.

Both the LPGA and DP World Tour took a break this week.

The post Callaway wrap: Xander Schauffele’s complete performance falls short in Players Championship runner-up appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[Photo: Getty images]

Superstar Minjee Lee enjoyed her best result as a Callaway ambassador at the Blue Bay LPGA Tour event in China while topping the results of staffers on major tours across the world.

A week after starring in ABC’s Australian Story in her native Australia, Lee took the first-round lead at the LPGA Tour’s Blue Bay event before finishing tied fourth. The Perth native carded six birdies and two bogeys in the final round 68 at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club. The two-time major winner finished at 13 under par and six shots back of the winner.

Using her Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Driver (10.5), Lee averaged 275 yards per drive on the final day, finding nine of 14 fairways. But it was on the greens where Lee stood out. Using the Odyssey Ai-One Milled Two T Putter, Lee needed just 25 putts on Sunday to record her first top 10 of the year.

Since joining Callaway on February 5, Lee has played two LPGA Tour events, a T29 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the T4 at the Blue Bay event.

“I actually touched on everything this off-season, especially with changes to my equipment to Callaway,” she said. “Everything has been a little bit of a process of getting used to it. It’s going to take me a couple of events to knock the rust off and break those clubs in.”

Lee’s share of fourth was the best of the Callaway staffers across the LPGA, PGA Tour and the DP World Tours over the weekend.

On the PGA Tour, at the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, a stunning late eagle catapulted Callaway star Emiliano Grillo up the leaderboard and into a tie for eighth at the $20 million Signature event. The Argentina native, using his Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Plus (9 degrees), blasted his tee shot 310 yards down the fairway at Bay Hill’s par-5 16^th. For his second, Grillo used his Apex TCB 6-iron to fire a 190-yard shot to the green, settling to five feet.

 The 31-year-old PGA Tour winner rolled in the eagle putt using his Odyssey White Hot OG Stroke Lab #5 putter. A bogey at Bay Hill’s difficult par-4 18^th dropped Grillo to a 71 and he finished four under and 11 shots back of the winner. With one eye on another Presidents Cup appearance for the International team later this year, Grillo locked up his second top 10 on the PGA Tour this year following a T7 at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.

According to ShotLink data, it was driving and putting where Grillo made his scores at Bay Hill. He was 17^th in the field for strokes gained off the tee, gaining 1.611 shots on the 69-player field. He found 38 of 56 fairways for four rounds, or 67 percent. With Bay Hill’s rough notoriously thick, he was in the fairway on 67 percent of his holes. Grillo’s iron play was stellar, ranking 22^nd for strokes gained: approach while he was among the best players on the greens at the Palmer event. Grillo was ranked eighth in strokes gained: putting for the week, grabbing 5.492 shots on the field with his short stick.

Meanwhile, the DP World Tour was in South Africa for the Jonsson Workwear Open. Tom McKibbin, a Northern Irishman who hails from Holywood, near Belfast, was the best among the Callaway players in the field. He carded a final round 69 to finish at 19 under and tied for ninth. McKibbin was seven shots back of the winner.

The post Callaway wrap: Minjee Lee runs hot on LPGA, Emiliano Grillo eagle sets up another PGA Tour top 10 appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Min Woo Lee’s stunning back-nine eagle set up a charge towards his career-best result on the PGA Tour as he and fellow Callaway staffer Erik van Rooyen shared second place at the Cognizant Classic at PGA National in Florida.

Only hours after he and sister Minjee Lee were featured on ABC’s Australian Story Monday night, Lee, in Florida, overcame a double-bogey 5 at the par-3 fifth to make the turn in one-rounder par during a weather-interrupted final round in Palm Beach Gardens.

At the 526-yard, par-5 10^th, Lee smoked his Paradym Triple Diamond Driver 322 yards down the fairway before firing a laser from 204 yards to eight feet from the hole. Watch the second shot here:

Lee drained the eagle putt before a birdie at the par-4 12^th to be in the hunt.

Lee posted a 67 to finish at 14 under par and three shots behind the winner. The 25-year-old gained a whopping 6.043 shots on the Cognizant field using his Apex MB irons, ranking fourth for the week in strokes gained: approach. He was also in the top 26 in the field for strokes gained: off the tee and in scrambling for par saves. Check out his hole-out pitch shot from earlier in the week:

Lee soaked up his first runner-up on the PGA Tour in what was a tough tournament with weather delays. “I’m really proud of the way I handled myself this week.

“It was hectic but also I needed to just keep my head in the game. I don’t really have that many Monday finishes. It was pretty tough to regroup and lock in. Last night I was just on my phone for a couple hours just like, ‘What am I doing? I need to get sleep.’ It felt like it was the end of the tournament, but we had another 12 hours of golf to play.”

Lee was confirmed as having played his way into this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill via the top five points earners from the non-Signature events. “My manager Brent signed me up for that yesterday and I saw it on the email, and I know he tried to do it on the low, but I did see it come through the email saying that I was signed up for it just in case I do — I think I needed a solo third. I knew that before last night that I needed to play like that. It’s amazing. I was thinking about it coming down the stretch. I was thinking about the win, but yeah, was a really proud moment today.”

Lee’s second place rocketed him up to No.31 on the world rankings, bringing him closer to making Australia’s men’s golf team for the Paris Olympics in August. Lee’s previous best finish on the PGA Tour was a T5 at last year’s US Open.

South African native, van Rooyen, also played his way into the Arnold Palmer Invitational courtesy of the top 10 on the current FedEx Cup rankings. van Rooyen (T2/-14), who finished with a final-round 63 on Sunday, claimed back-to-back top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour following a T8 at the Mexico Open, for the first time since the 2021 FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship (7th-5th). Van Rooyen’s seven-under 28 on the front nine of the final round tied his career-best nine-hole score (back nine of the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship that he won).

WHAT’S IN THE BAG – MIN WOO LEE

Driver: Paradym Triple Diamond (10.5°) with Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X Shaft

Fairway Wood: Paradym Triple Diamond (16.5°) with Fujikura Ventus Blue 10X Shaft

Utility iron: X Forged UT (2-iron) with True Temper AMT Tour White Shaft 

Irons: Apex MB (4-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Shafts

Wedge: Jaws MD 5 (50°) with Nippon NS Pro Modus Shaft 

Putter: Odyssey Tri Hot 5K Double Wide

Ball: Chrome Soft X

WHAT’S IN THE BAG – ERIK VAN ROOYEN

Driver: Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees)

Utility iron: Apex UW (17 degrees) X Forged UT (18 degrees)

Irons: Apex TCB (4) Apex MB (5-PW)

On the DP World Tour, Germany’s Nick Bachem was the top Callaway player, tied fourth at the SDP Championship in South Africa. Meanwhile on the LPGA Tour, Callaway ambassador Andrea Lee finished seventh at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.

The post Callaway wrap: Min Woo Lee, Erik Van Rooyen T2 at PGA Tour’s Palm Beach Gardens event appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

It only took 11 PGA Tour starts for rookie Sami Valimaki, a Callaway ambassador, to earn his maiden top 10 and top 5 on the US Circuit in the same week. Graduating from the DP World Tour’s top 10 from 2023, the Finland star finished runner up at the Mexico Open on Sunday.

Valimaki carded a two-under 69 at the Vidanta Vallarta course to finish at 17 under par and only two shots shy of the fellow rookie Jake Knapp, who captured his first PGA Tour win.

The 25-year-old from Pirkkala, Finland went out in 32 courtesy of a birdie and an eagle in his first seven holes on the final day. The eagle 3 on the short par-4 seventh put him into a share of the lead at 18 under. Valimaki, using his Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamon S driver (9 degrees), smashed a 297-yard bomb to six feet and made the eagle putt.

A one-over back nine was all that prevented Valimaki from becoming the first Finnish golfer to win on the PGA Tour.  Valimaki’s maiden runner up on the PGA Tour was built on solid driving – he was in the top 25 for strokes gained: off the tee and hit 65 percent of his fairways with an average drive of 306 yards on measured holes. The biggest contributor to his second place, however, were irons and putting. He ranked seventh and ninth in the approach play and putting, respectively. He gained 5.050 shots on the fields with his approach shots, using the Callaway Apex MB.

Valimaki gained a whopping 5.176 shots on the field with his putting using the Odyssey Ai-One #1.

“I played solid,” Valimaki said. “I mean, I enjoyed the whole week. In the wind, it’s a tough grind. And then today the front nine was going my way, so I was hoping [for more] on the back nine and that wasn’t the case today.”

Sami Valimaki What’s In The Bag

Driver: Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond S (9 degrees)

3-wood: Paradym (16.5 degrees)

Irons: X Forged UT (19 degrees), Apex MB (4-9)

Wedges: Jaws Raw (46-10S, 50-10S, 56-10S, 60-10J)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One #1

Ball: Chrome Tour X

On the DP WORLD TOUR, Nacho Elvira ensured runner ups on both major tours for Callaway with a tie for second at the Magical Kenya Open. Elvira, from Spain, carded a 66 on the final day to finish at 12 under par and just two shots behind Darius van Driel who won at 14 under. Fellow Callaway players Matthew Jordan and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui were a shot back of Elvira in a share of fourth.

Meanwhile on the LPGA Tour, which has commenced its Asia swing, Madelene Sagstrom was the leading Callaway staffer at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Sagstrom posted a two-under 70 on Sunday to finish at 15 under par and six shots back of winner and home hero Patty Tavatanakit.

The post Callaway wrap: Valimaki and Elvira go close on PGA, DP World Tour appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.