Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Golf Magazine

TIGER WOODS WON HIS FIRST of five Masters tournaments 25 years ago. Twenty-five! In April of 1997, the number-one film at the box office was Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar, and the song topping Billboard’s Top 100 was “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” by Puff Daddy (later known as P. Diddy, Diddy, Sean John, Swag and Love). I can’t say that I’ve watched or listened to either chart-topper. (Nor will I admit to any thoughts on a personal list of potential aliases.) But I did soak up nearly every swing made by Mr. Woods that April a quarter century ago. The Thursday opener was held on April 10. It was a friend’s 30th birthday, which is why I remember the date. We played golf that morning (the Ike Course at Industry…

AN INTERNATIONAL PHONE CALL FROM SAITAMA, JAPAN, TO SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Dylan Dethier: In the past few months you’ve dipped your toe into a couple of PGA Tour events. Now, you’re headed to Augusta. What are your expectations? Keita Nakajima: This is a big year for me, and I want to spend all my energy on each tournament because each one of them is important. But, of course, the Masters is the stage that I have been dreaming of playing on, so I want to do my best. DD: Have you gotten advice on how to play the course? KN: I heard you need to hit a draw off the tee. But, talking to my golf coach, Gareth Jones, there are probably only five holes that require draw balls. So the…

IN THE 1980S, MY BEST FRIEND’S parents had a mobile phone—aka “the bag phone”—that they lugged around in their car. We could look at it. We could touch it. We just couldn’t use it because making a call was so expensive. It also was heavy. But, if you had the money, the bag phone allowed you to call while you were driving, and it certainly conveyed cachet. Until recently, full-room golf simulators with big-dollar launch monitors reminded me of those 1980s bag phones. They were a definite statement of your golf bona fides and willingness to invest in your game. But they were expensive and, to function, required a room in your house with high ceilings. Nice perk if you could get it, but, realistically, these fancy setups were the…

…You have to manage spin A big challenge for me has been adjusting to my speed gains by learning to control spin. I’m constantly tweaking my lofts and diving down rabbit holes trying to understand more about it. On Augusta’s par 3s, you don’t want the ball “ripping” backward after it lands. The key is to control the backspin. To do that, I’m practicing placing the ball way back in my stance, which creates a steeper angle of attack and less dynamic loft. I’ll narrow my stance slightly, too, to prevent excessive weight shift and swing softer. If you see me holding par-3 greens this year, then the plan worked. …Cut shots are king I was excited to play my first Masters in 2016. It was a lifelong dream, and…

Tour Geared for elite ball strikers who can afford to give up forgiveness for workability. Player Irons with a Tour look plus a good dose of mishit protection. Player distance They look like better-player irons packed with ball-speed boost and forgiveness. Game improvement Slightly oversize profiles for mid-handicaps who often miss the sweet spot. Super game improvement Loaded with all you need—and nothing you don’t. A perfect start for novices and beginners.…

Set PING’s newest iron offering, the i525, behind the ball at address and you can imagine going back in time—its compact blade length, minimal offset and thin topline would have sat comfortably in midcentury fairways. Hit the ball, however, and it feels like the future because the thing is actually packed to the gills with 21st-century bells and whistles. It starts with multi-material construction: a 17-4 stainless-steel body married to a forged, maraging-steel face, accented by stabilizing, accuracy-aiding tungsten weights at the toe and shaft tip, all wrapped up in a sleek matte finish. The face is where the rubber hits the road, with a ballistic, variable face thickness (VFT) design to increase ball speed as well as control. Maraging steel’s strength permitted a thinner, more dynamic face, with an…

Tony Finau has fought hard and risen through both the amateur and pro ranks to emerge as one of the most popular and powerful players in the game. His swing, once wild (“I had to play a big slice to make it work”), seemed destined for the long-drive circuit. Wanting more, he enlisted the expertise of GOLF Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays, and together they drilled the needed parts to round out his game: consistency, accuracy, precision and finesse, especially with his irons. The process took time—a slow but steady journey of incremental improvements. The result? Call Tony a legit fivetool player and a fair bet to don a green jacket—and maybe more—in 2022. The lessons learned are requisite reading for any player looking to reach their full potential and…

$5COST FOR A PINT OF AUGUSTA NATIONAL’S ALL-NEW CROW’S NEST, A WHEAT ALE OF MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN THAT FIRST SURFACED AT CONCESSION STANDS IN 2021. $115 Lowest aftermarket asking price for an official Masters garden gnome. (SOURCE: EBAY) $50 Retail value of the gnome on-site at Augusta. 46 Years that there has been rain at some point during the Masters Tournament, including each of the last three years. 8 NUMBER OF MASTERS ROUNDS POSTPONED BECAUSE OF RAIN. 39 YEARS SINCE THE LAST MASTERS MONDAY FINISH. (WINNER: SEVE BALLESTEROS, 1983) 3 HOLES AT ANGC THAT WILL PLAY LONGER THIS YEAR: NO. 11 (15 YARDS), NO. 15 (20 YARDS), NO. 18 (13 YARDS). TIGER WOODS’ STROKES GAINED TOTAL, 1997 MASTERS THE BIG CAT WAS ON ANOTHER PLANET THE WEEK OF HIS RECORD-SETTING WIN 25 YEARS AGO, GAINING…

Callaway fans ate up the Apex line (so well, in fact, you can still buy all iterations). They gushed over the Mavriks too. So what does Callaway do for an encore in 2022? Well, they’ve taken inspiration from the best parts of both the Apex and Mavrik to create the Rogue STs, that’s what. The Pro model stole headlines in our recent proving grounds, but the Rogue ST family includes something for everyone with Max, Max OS and Max Lite versions (Lite not pictured). At the heart of this year’s update is an all-new 450 A.I. face cup, a piece of serious performance-boosting tech that blends the company’s Flash Face cup with high-strength 450 steel. The new face material provides both improved consistency and increased ball speeds. Add to that…

The fourth generation of PXG’s flagship irons are packed with state-of-the-art technology, but it’s the 0311 P model that caught our eye. These “player” irons—hence the “P”—strike the perfect balance between forgiveness and workability, and they do so without making any concessions. The 0311 Ps are fit with proprietary XCOR technology made of a highly compressible polymer material that provides a massive sweet spot. The clubs are also fitted with Precision Weighting technology, featuring a large weight near the back of the clubhead that can be adjusted in 2-gram increments during the fitting process to get the clubs dialed in to your exact specifications. And with a midsize head, topline, sole and offset, these irons give you a clean, blade-like look without sacrificing performance. “It has to be the best…

Most days, the Titleist club development team is made of dreamers. When it comes time to design a new line of T-series irons, however, Titleist’s engineers become, well, magicians. They have to, of course. Magic is about the only way to advance what’s already the most-played iron on the PGA Tour—a favorite of both Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, among many others. In the T-series’ newest iteration, Titleist filled its hat with not one but two rabbits: the Tourready T100 and T100•S. The blade-adjacent T100 features a new, streamlined design with added weight in the toe for better turf interaction and 80 grams of tungsten, on average, to improve stability. Meanwhile, the bigger, badder T100•S is built 2 degrees stronger across the board for better ball speed and added distance.…

AUGUSTA NATIONAL is the kind of course that takes time to get used to. I’ve drawn a lot from my friend Fred Couples. I try to pay attention to the little things: why players play certain shots or how they see certain holes. Fred instinctively picks the right shot more than other people. When he decides which club to pick, he’s always thinking about leaving himself in a decent spot if he misses, and he knows when to back off. I’ve tried to learn from the few rounds I’ve played at Augusta with Fred and see the course in my own way. It’s a series of red, yellow and green lights. Yellow lights are pins you could attack if you need to or are feeling especially hot that day. There…

G: Thinking back to last year’s Masters, what is the moment that most sticks in your memory? HM: It has to be wearing the green jacket for the first time. G: Did you have a childhood golf hero? HM: My golf hero growing up was—and still is—Tiger Woods. For my generation, I think Tiger is everyone’s hero. G: Did you watch the Masters as a kid? HM: I used to get up at 5:00 a.m. in Japan and watch the Masters broadcast every year. The first time was in 1997, when Tiger won. G: Last year, there was a rain delay in the third round of the event, and right before it you hit what you said was “the worst shot” of the week. After the delay—which you said you…

If you’re a dew-sweeping duffer looking to hoof 18 (or 36), the True Lux Sport ($185) from True Linkswear is the shoe for you. The term “waterproof” gets thrown around a lot these days, but the company backs it up with a two-year warranty. What about breathability, you ask? Allowing your dogs some air might be True Lux Sport’s most impressive feature. If it hasn’t hit you yet, this isn’t a normal golf shoe—and we haven’t even talked about the color offerings. Available in Cobblestone, Concrete and Pin Hunter (pictured), these kicks will leave your playing partners jealous. It’s footwear that performs at a high level, provides max comfort and is as stylish as they come. This is a shoe you won’t look forward to taking off at the end…

Some golfers simply want irons that help them hit it farther and straighter—no questions asked. We get you, and so does Cleveland Golf with its new Launcher XL irons, designed specifically for the player who wants to have more fun while hitting better and longer shots. Let’s be clear, however: Making a game-improvement iron that looks clean, is easy to wield and fun to use for a wide range of golfers isn’t easy. Cleveland worked hard and used artificial intel to develop the Launcher XL’s MainFrame variable face technology found in the oversize hollowbody longer irons (4-7) for added distance and forgiveness, whereas the shorter clubs sport a cavity-back design for more control. Each iron also has Action CB tech—an 8-gram weight under the grip for a balanced feel as…

HE HOOKED HIS FIRST tee shot into the trees. He bogeyed four of his first nine holes. He limped to the 10th at Augusta National with a 40. And on April 10, 1997, in his first round at the Masters as a professional, Tiger Woods still bettered his playing partner, defending champion Nick Faldo, by a stroke on the front nine. Of course, you likely know what happened three days and 63 holes later. A quarter century ago, Woods won the Masters Tournament by 12 strokes—and the margin remains the standard for domination over a Masters field. You also likely know he’s won the event four more times. But those who stood next to Woods tee-to-green know the story best. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Woods’ first green-jacket…

I’LL BE COMPETING in my third Masters this month. In 2020, I was paired with eventual winner Dustin Johnson in the final Sunday group, so I’m coming in confident. Some people say that winning the Masters boils down to putting, but trust me: You have to be sharp with every part of your game there. That said, putting is critical, not only at Augusta but anywhere you play. I placed 41st and 29th in Strokes Gained Putting my first two years on Tour. It helped me to a win and a rank inside the OWGR Top 20. I try not to complicate things: I work on four moves to get the job done. Follow suit and you’re almost guaranteed to shoot lower scores. Turn the page and let’s get started.…

THE MACHINES ARE COMING, and they’ve got their eyes set on your golf game. You can’t miss the RoboGolfPro when you see it: It stretches more than nine feet tall with another nine-foot-long arm extending from its center. The goal of RoboGolfPro is simple: to improve your technique. Each machine comes programmed with full swings from a variety of different Tour players, including Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose and Sergio García. It also contains specific movement patterns, like shallowing the club, to combat different swing flaws. Students alternate between swings on the RoboGolfPro and hitting balls without it to transfer their new skills. The RoboGolfPro (robogolfpro.com) is currently used by teachers in more than 20 locations worldwide, including creator Scot W.R. Nei (pictured) at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. EXTRA REPS…