Mickelson On Point At Doral
Phil Mickelson has always had good memories at Doral and he added a few more “WOW” moments during his T3 finish last week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The Callaway Staff Pro made birdies off of cart paths, nearly wiggled his way into a hole-in-one and put on a show like he always does as he made a run at the lead.
Mickelson used a RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver (9.5°), X Hot Pro 3-wood (13°), RAZR X Muscleback Irons and a HEX Black Tour Ball during the week. He gave a lot of credit to his new 3-wood, which he first put in play at the Northern Trust Open. It has a 43.25” Fubuki K 70x Shaft.
Lefty now sits in fourth place on the current FedExCup standings after rounds of 67-67-69-71 at Doral. For a full recap of Phil’s beautiful chip off the cart path and his explanation of why he busted out the wiggle, please visit our Callaway Facebook page. As our Head of PR Scott Goryl put it, Phil’s interviews are becoming Must See TV.
Stuard Finishes T4 In Puerto Rico, Posts Third Top-10 On The Year
We learned very quickly that first year staffer Brian Stuard would be one of the most consistent players on Tour this year. It’s as if he’s incapable of putting up a bad score or missing a cut; it seems like he never makes a mistake. Stuard controlled his game all week as he posted a T4 finish at the Puerto Rico Open with an X Hot Pro Driver (9.5°) and a RAZR Fit Xtreme 3-wood.
This was Stuard’s third top-10 and second top-5 in just six starts this year. His stat sheet tells the story as he ranks eighth on Tour in strokes gained – putting, eighth in scoring average, eighth in the all-around ranking, first in putting from 10-15 feet and fifth in 3-putt avoidance. He’s now in the top-30 on the FedExCup standings, as are Mickelson, Chris Kirk, Freddie Jacobson and James Hahn.
Odyssey Tank Introduced On Tour, Colsaerts Puts In Play
As if keeping up with the Tour demand for Versa wasn’t enough for our Reps, Odyssey introduced the new Tank Putter on Tour last week at Doral. The Tank Putter features weighted components with a Tour preferred balance point for a higher MOI and greater stability through the putting stroke.
Odyssey demoed the 34”, 36”, 38” and 40” models at Doral, and Nicolas Colsaerts put a 40” #7 model in play for the WGC-Cadillac Championship. We’ll update you with more info on Tank in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
NOTES
Els Adjusts His RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver
Ernie Els adjusted his RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver (9.5°) at Doral in an effort to make it more draw friendly. Our Callaway Reps added some weight to the heel and reduced the toe weight so that the driver went from 14 grams in the heel/ 3 grams in the toe to 14 grams (plus 2 grams of glue) in the heel and 1 gram of weight in the toe. We’ve got all the bells in whistles in our trailer yet sometimes a fix is as easy as adding glue. Els said he liked the change and that it was easier to draw his HEX Black Tour Ball.
Ishikawa Makes Ace With X Forged 6-Iron
Ryo Ishikawa hit the shot of the week on Saturday when he made a hole-in-one with his X Forged 6-iron at the Puerto Rico Open. He aced the par-3 eighth hole at Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico on the way to a stellar 66 that put him in contention. We can’t confirm if drinks were on him after the round, but it’s safe to say that the fan favorite drew a big cheer from the gallery. Great job, Ryo!
List Leads In Driving Distance, Colsaerts and Woodland Right Behind
In their ongoing battle to settle “Who’s The Longest Player on Tour?”, Luke List (RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver 8.5°) now leads the PGA Tour in driving distance, Colsaerts is second and Gary Woodland (RAZR Fit Xtreme 8.5°) is T4. List is averaging 307.8 yards per drive while Colsaerts is right behind at 307.2 yards a pop. Meanwhile, Nicolas now has 41 X Bombs this year for 325+ yard drives, which is just absurd. There’s a great chance these guys finish 1-2-3 in driving distance at the end of the year.
ANECDOTES
Callaway Tech Talk Gives Inside Look At Staffers’ Equipment
In an effort to bring you closer to what’s happening on the range and in the trailer each week on Tour, our Head of PR Scott Goryl (aka Scotty G., aka guy who’s gotten two shout outs in this post) is hosting a new weekly segment we like to call Callaway Tech Talk.
We’re giving you the inside story on everything that’s happening as our staffers get ready to compete on the major Tours around the world, and in last week’s segment, Scott talked to Callaway PGA Tour Rep Mike Sposa to discuss his work at Doral. Mike explained how he got Freddie Jacobson dialed in to a 3-wood, and how he tweaked Els’ RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver.
The first Callaway Tech Talk is now up on the blog. We can’t wait to share more equipment news from the Tour later this week!
Tags: Callaway, Fairway Wood, Mickelson, Tank, Tech Talk, X Hot
