Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Golf Magazine

DRIVER 1) Callaway XR 16, 9°, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 60 shaft, X-flex, 45.5", 288 yards; $350 UTILITY IRONS 2) Callaway Apex UT, 18°, 238 yards and 21°, 225 yards, True Temper Dynamic Gold SL shaft, X100 flex; $230 IRONS 3) Callaway Apex Pro (5-9), True Temper Dynamic Gold SL shaft, X100 flex; price N/A 5-iron: 208 yards 6-iron: 197 yards 7-iron: 179 yards 8-iron: 165 yards 9-iron: 155 Yards WEDGES 4) Callaway Mack Daddy 2, 47° (S Grind), 135 yards; 54° (T Grind), 115 yards; 58° (T Grind), 95 yards. All with True Temper Dynamic Gold SL shaft, X100 flex; $90 PUTTER 5) Odyssey Versa #1 Wide, 35"; $100 BALL Callaway Chrome Soft (2016); $40 FAIRWAY WOODS 6) Callaway XR 16, 15°, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 70 shaft, X-flex,…

The fall collection from Adidas Golf is designed with maximum mobility in mind. The Climaheat jacket (modeled by Jason Day, right) offers both stretch and warmth, with bulk-free no-fill sleeves. New "Ultimate Pants" feature a heavier weight for fall, but they maintain their breathable stretch with an elastic waistband and moisture-wicking materials. Other cold-weather accessories include beanies, no-seam sleeves and Climaheat BOA shoes for the ultimate inclement-weather enthusiast. Climaheat Prime Quilted Full-Zip Jacket, $150; adidasgolf.com Ultimate Pant, $80-$90; adidasgolf.com Climaheat Pom Beanie, $25; adidasgolf.com Climaheat BOA, $170; adidasgolf.com Climawarm Golf Sleeves, $30; adidasgolf.com…

Roll of Phil's putt. Proof: The Gods exist! Phil Mickelson's putt for a 62 was captured from a drone above the 18th green at Royal Troon. The Golf Gods clearly interfered. AS A SCIENTIST (I worked for years at NASA), I've always believed that there's a logical explanation for everything. Then I watched Phil Mickelson's final putt of the first round at this year's British Open. It was tracking, tracking, tracking—and then it dove to his right and lipped out. My faith in reason was shaken. So hear me, dear reader: Spirits are at work. Gods are at play. I now believe. Mickelson's putt had to go in. If it had dropped, Lefty would have shot 62—the lowest round in major history. Nineteen 63s have been carded in majors, but…

The Tour's wraparound season starts this month, but in our book, October belongs to baseball. Wild-card games, walk-off homers, the World Series—there's nothing like it. (Sorry, but the CIMB Classic is no Fall Classic.) Many baseball legends love golf, among them Hall of Famer and 13-time all-star George Brett (above). The Kansas City Royals great has cut his handicap almost to scratch by using the same, simple swing keys that got him into Cooperstown. The man who once hit .390 now hits it 290 off the tee, at age 63! To Brett, crushing drives is like crushing fastballs. And here's his pitch: Your old baseball swing makes a great golf swing, just on a different plane. Batter up—it's time to go yard. (No pine tar needed.) KNOCK THE COVER OFF!…

1 Is it my setup? If flops frustrate you, you may think that your sternum has to be behind the ball in order to loft it high. With a lob wedge, this setup could lead to skulls. HOW TO CHECK Set up as if to hit a flop. Hold the grip end of the club against your sternum. Does the clubhead dangle well behind the ball? YES FIX NO. 1 At address, you tilt too much to the right and/or play the ball too far forward. Level your shoulders and play the ball a bit right of center in your stance. (Use the club-against-sternum trick above to double-check.) NO 2 Is it my clubface? Most players try to hit flops by "flipping" their hands through impact. It can work, but…

Most wedge shots require you to carry the ball a shorter distance than your full-swing wedge yardage. Throttling down is what makes wedging it tight so tough. To subtract yards, some players prefer to choke down on the handle, but that changes the lie angle of the club and can lead to poor contact. Your best bet? Keep everything the same, but shorten the length of your through-swing. A limited follow-through automatically shaves yards. (Shortening your backswing does, too, but it's a hard move to pull off consistently because you can't see the clubhead.) The finish positions at left are your new cheat sheet to dialing in any yardage with any wedge. FINISH HERE FOR MAX WEDGE POWER FINISH HERE FOR 60% WEDGE POWER FINISH HERE FOR 70% WEDGE POWER…

Ian Poulter will sit this one out with an injury. To compete, Lee Westwood will probably need to be a captain's pick of old pal Darren Clarke. And players like Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington may be too far off form to get the nod. Team Europe will be vastly different from the outfit that beat the U.S. in six of the last seven Ryder Cups. "Both teams are different looking," says Poulter, who will serve as one of Clarke's vice-captains at Hazeltine. "It's a younger wave of players. Europe will have quite a few rookies, and the U.S. team is also going to be fairly young. I wouldn't say that one team is clearly stronger than the other." But who are these guys? Herewith, Team Europe's new crop of…

THE RYDER CUP returns, and I for one can't wait. It's one of the most exciting events in sports. As a British citizen who has an American address, my loyalties are divided, but I look forward to the biennial event with joyful anticipation. It's really like no other. The Ryder Cup provides a groundswell of emotions that even the four majors lack. Teammates play for each other and for their flag. That's special. To celebrate this spectacle, we've created two separate covers: one each featuring U.S. Ryder Cup veterans Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. The Americans have lost three straight Cups, so Bubba and D.J.'s monster drives will be needed. They'll be led by Captain Davis Love III. As he reveals in an exclusive piece writtenfor GOLF, Love seeks redemption…

When you look back at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, is it bittersweet? You held the 54-hole lead and tied for second. But that Sunday, 76 had to gnaw at you, right? Yeah, the few days after the U.S. Open were quite tough. I had to keep myself busy, because anytime I was on my own I was thinking, "What if had done this or if this would have happened?" I was driving myself mad. Did you see any positives during these moments alone, or was it all negatives? It was all negatives at the time. I'm not going to lie—I went into the locker room afterward, and my coach, Neil [Manchip], was there packing up my bags, and we gave each other a hug. I was in tears. I…

Rules Guy: Let's say two pitch shots are struck simultaneously from opposite sides of an elevated green that keeps the golfers from seeing each other. Their balls collide. Do both players hit from where the balls came to rest? And are there any penalties? —JIM KELLY, VIA E-MAIL Stroke play and match play are on a collision course here, Jim. Rule 19-5b states that when a player's ball in motion is deflected by another player's ball in motion (neither one played from the putting green), each must play the ball as it lies without penalty. In match play, however, there's a potential twist: If your ball hits your opponent's ball when they're both in motion, and he's played out of turn, you can call a do-over on these simultaneous shots…

Over the past three-plus Tour seasons, Jimmy Walker has got his streak on. WINNERS ON TOUR aren't only highly skilled; they have the ability to string together great rounds in a single event. Still, three great rounds followed by a clunker might earn you a rep as someone who can't close the deal. A player's "streakiness" counts for a lot, but in order to win, he's got to be what you might call streaky hot. I measure the streakiness of a player by comparing his wins with how many times he would have won if he weren't streaky at all. Think of "not streaky" as picking a score at random from a player's scores for the season. "Not streaky" means that shooting, say, a 65 or a 78 has no…

The par-5 third has all the makings of a signature hole. HOT TRACKS Silo Ridge Field Club Amenia, N.Y. 7,107 yards, par 71 Architect: Tom Fazio Siloridge.com Just a 90-minute drive from Manhattan is New York State's newest championship spread: Tom Fazio's Silo Ridge. One look at the practice range target—a rusted, red "47 Chevy truck—and you can tell you're in for a fun day. "What player wouldn't want to hit a truck with a ball," Silo Ridge Director of Golf Brian Crowell says with a smile. Indeed, the golf experience at Silo Ridge is all about fun—a refreshing change for a private club. Located in the bucolic serenity of the Hudson Valley, rustic, rural Silo Ridge Field Club is the first development in the northeast for Arizona-based Discovery Land…

Big bombers catch shots in the center of the clubface, where maximum energy transfer occurs. You can build a stance that makes it easy to pound the sweet spot swing after swing. The secret? Set your feet the correct distance from each other and let your arms hang properly. You can nail these four critical moves in no time—and nail your drives longer than ever. 1 Stand at Attention With your driver resting against your body, stand tall with your shoulders back, feet together and the ball positioned off your left big toe. Let your arms dangle from your shoulders. Hold onto this feeling—you'll need it in steps 2 and 3. 2 Set Your Width Take a small step to the left with your left foot and a giant step…

Odds are, you carry at least one hybrid in your bag. Mine goes 205 yards—it's a high-flying lifesaver when I'm stuck between 3-wood and my longest iron. Manufacturers market hybrids as versatile and easy to hit, but they don't swing themselves. You need to make some critical adjustments—if you swing them steeply like you do your irons, you won't get maximum distance. And if you try to swing "up" through contact, as you would with a driver, you'll skull it. I go for a happy medium: a sweeping motion through impact that takes just a little dirt, like I'm catching an iron a bit on the thin side. Here's how to groove the right feel. At the range, tee the ball just barely above the turf. And I mean barely.…

If your favorite Tour pro gives you the cold shoulder, now you'll know why. Whole-body cryotherapy—brief exposure in a nitrogen vapor-filled chamber to temperatures exceeding –200° F—is gaining popularity on Tour. Several top pros have taken the deep freeze, including Jordan Spieth (inset, right), Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Padraig Harrington. Why? The promise of a faster post-workout recovery, higher energy levels and better sleep. Top 100 Teacher Scott Munroe is a convert. "Cryotherapy tricks the body into thinking it's freezing," Munroe says. "The brain releases endorphins, and the immune system gets a boost," adding that sore muscles bounce back faster. Considering the gym time and air miles logged by the pros—not to mention countless golf swings—faster recovery is a big benefit. "It's an important part of my players' recovery…

Some golf courses are born great. Others have greatness thrust upon them. Still others must weather storms of vitriolic criticism and endless design tweaks to finally find their place in the pantheon of top tournament tracks. Put Hazeltine National Golf Club—which will host this month's Ryder Cup—in the third camp. Few tracks have endured such a difficult journey to earn respect. The 1970 U.S. Open at Hazeltine, just eight years old at the time, inspired more wisecracks and grievances than any course in memory. Jack Nicklaus, of all people, ignited the criticism with a preview piece he penned for Sports Illustrated, stating that Hazeltine "lacked definition" and was riddled with blind shots. Things soon got worse for the course, its architect, Robert Trent Jones Sr., and the USGA. "Jones has…

Billed as the company's most forgiving driver, the Big Bertha Fusion features a carbon composite (called "triaxial carbon") in the crown and parts of the sole. This strong material is thinner and lighter than the forged composite in previous Callaway drivers. The areas of the head with triaxial carbon weigh 15 grams, whereas these same sections would be 5 grams heavier using forged composite or 30 grams more with titanium. The discretionary mass gets shifted from the crown and sole to the back, resulting in a 24 percent higher MOI and a lower, deeper CG (for less spin) than the popular XR 16 driver. The new club also packs a punch. The Speed Step crown design, which is borrowed from the XR 16, contributes to faster head speeds through improved…

FOR MORE INSTRUCTION THAT FITS YOUR GAME, GO TO GOLF.COM SENIOR PLAYER You've lost some flexibility and power, but you still know how to score. TRACE YOUR WAY TO A BETTER PATH If your shots tend to leak to the right or to slice, you probably have a path problem. Chances are, the clubhead is approaching the ball from outside the target line. To hit the ball solidly and with a slight draw, your path needs to move from inside the target line in the downswing and then out to the right through impact. Here's an easy range drill to help you groove the ideal inside-out path. Tee up a ball and place a club on the ground along your target line. Then lay another iron on top of the…

THE BEST TOURNAMENT you've never heard of is played annually at Bandon Dunes by two dozen binge-drinkers, degenerate gamblers and, I'm proud to say, close, personal friends of mine. It's called the Uncle Tony Invitational. The event's eponymous patriarch is Tony Kielhofer, a big, garrulous, wonderfully profane 75-year-old who, as a young man in Sacramento, once shot 66 to finish second in the city championship. He passed on his love for the game to his nephew Matt Ginella, one of my closest friends going back to the mid-1990s when he worked as a photo editor at Sports Illustrated. Matt went on to a stint at another golf publication, where his persnickety editor unsuccessfully tried to ban us from recreational rounds together because we worked at competing titles. He now brings…

Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson didn't see eye to eye in 2014, at Gleneagles. IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS since the Press Conference Heard Round the Golf World. In 2014, after enduring another stinging loss to Europe, at Gleneagles, Phil Mickelson questioned Team USA's Ryder Cup strategy. Phil claimed that no players were involved in any decision making that week, a statement that put Captain Tom Watson on the defensive. Many people lambasted Mickelson for publicly airing grievances, but I applauded his candor. The timing ensured that everyone was aware of the frustration affecting the team. And the result of Phil's brutal honesty is the Ryder Cup task force, a group comprised of 11 past captains, players and PGA of America leadership figures. The goal? An overhaul of the entire Ryder…

We're drinking green juice today, which is tastier than I expected. If we could get everybody in America, particularly children, to start the day with that, what a difference it would make in their lives. Fitness and nutrition are important to you. You turn 81 in November. Do you still do more than a thousand sit-ups daily? Yes, I did 1,300 sit-ups and crunches last night, and I put a hundred-pound weight on my chest for the last 200. And then I did the treadmill at max, and I pushed 400 pounds with my legs. So you see, this business of getting old is purely a number. It's about the way you look after yourself. You have some 275,000 followers on Twitter. What's the key to being successful in social…

1 MAKE YOUR GRIP A "10" Piercy's hold on the club is unique—all 10 fingers squeeze the handle. It's not often taught, but the 10-finger grip offers added control, especially through impact. If you have trouble squaring the clubface—leading to a lot of slices or hooks—try it out. 2 FOLLOW THE BALL Here, his upper body still angles toward the ground, but his eyes and head have rotated toward the target, "following" the ball on its flight to the pin. Copy this and you'll stay on plane and add speed. 3 SHED YOUR WINGS Piercy's left arm folds up, with his elbow pointing at the ground (not "chicken-winging" toward the target). Textbook! With this move, the right arm can "snap" straight post-impact for max clubhead speed. The key? Keep rotating…

Degree of Difficulty 6/10 When it's useful: The ball is nestled near the lip of a fairway bunker. You have to stand in the hazard to properly address the ball, and when you do, the ball is at waist height. How to hit it: Batter up! Think back to your days as a Little Leaguer and knock this one out of the park. Grip Near the Steel. It's a funky stance. To create some semblance of a "normal" address position, choke all the way down to the end of the grip. Use your 7-iron—the goal is to hit the ball just far enough to leave a manageable wedge into the green. Aim for Right Field. With the ball at waist height, your swing will be ultra-flat, meaning you'll pull it…

Turn to Open Special Section 1 Drive It Like Dustin In his 2016 U.S. Open victory, Dustin Johnson topped the field driving-distance average by 30 yards. Expect more tee-box fireworks from D.J. at Hazeltine, and for him to build on his career 3-1 singles record in international match-play competition. "Blasting it by the other guy only gives you an advantage in match play if it bothers your opponent," says Scott Munroe (Boca Raton Resort, Boca Raton, Fla.). "Don't worry—it'll bother him." Pick up some yards right now with D.J.'s signature bowed left wrist (photos, below). Bowing shuts the face, so the ball can't slice and rob you of distance. "To avoid hitting a hook, pair the bow with a strong forward weight shift on the way down," Munroe says. 2…

THE TRADITION of celebrity athletes owning or lending their names to restaurants is long and storied. Such gilded Hall of Famers as Michael Jordan, John Elway and Wayne Gretzky have become foodie entrepreneurs—and some of our greatest golfers want in, too. Here are the four top dining spots served up by major-championship winners. Arnold Palmer's Restaurant La Quinta, Calif. Dating to 2004, Arnie's place is just what you'd expect from the King—a total people-pleaser. The mid-priced, all-American entrees include offerings such as homemade meatloaf and mac and cheese. There's even a practice putting green to smooth your stroke between courses. Plenty of steak and seafood options abound, and the fish and chips in the memorabilia-filled Arnie's Pub is among the most popular items in the house. arnoldpalmersrestaurant.com Nona Blue Orlando,…

ONE DAY THIS SUMMER I was in the auld country, playing with a lad of 14 named Cameron on a course called Prestwick St. Nicholas, down the beach from Troon. You could smell the sea. A couple days later, I was at the Caesarea Golf Club, in another old country, Israel. You could smell the heat. My driving-range neighbor there was Hadas Libman, a native Israeli, now21, a psychology major at UCLA and a member of its women's golf team. Hadas belts it, but her short game, she told me, is a joke, and not a good one. Candor is part of Israel's national identity. Golf is not. Israel is about the size of New Jersey, but there the important similarities end: The Garden State has 298 courses, and the…