Tag: Kramer Hickok

FedEx Cup Fall: Here’s what PGA Tour pros think of the seven-event series (and it’s not all good)

“It’s unfortunate for the events, for the fans and at least locally, it kind of sucks,” Doug Ghim said.

SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – In reviewing this new version of the FedEx Cup Fall, the PGA Tour has to be thrilled with some of its winners: Sahith Theegala’s debut win in Napa; Tom Kim’s repeat in Las Vegas; Collin Morikawa’s winless drought ends in Japan, the country of his ancestors; Erik van Rooyen’s back-nine 28 and emotional win in Cabo; Camilo Villegas’s feel-good story in Bermuda; and capped off by Ludvig Aberg’s 61-61 weekend here at the RSM Classic. The Sunday drama didn’t disappoint.

Underneath the surface, not everyone was so happy, particularly Jimmy Walker. who vented about how he had to keep battling for three additional months to keep his card. (He slipped out of the top 125 and will have conditional status playing out of the Nos. 126-150 category next season.)

Instead of the start to a new wrap-around season, the top 50 locked up their cards at the end of the regular season and no longer had to worry about falling behind in the full slate of tournaments. Rather, those without exempt status had to play on during a seven-event points chase to retain status for the 2024 season, which begins in January. (The Fall also lost two events — CJ Cup and Houston Open — both of which joined the FedEx Cup regular season, with CJ taking over title sponsorship of the Byron Nelson in Dallas and the Houston Open being promoted to a date in the spring.)

The top players finally got the off-season they’d been begging for and the rank-and-file still got several playing opportunities with purses of at least $8 million, full FedEx Cup points on the line and a chance to qualify for two early-season Signature Events for those who finishing in ‘The Next 10’ in the final point standings. As Peter Malnati put it, the FedEx Cup Fall was “fun and exciting, unless you’re one of the ones trying to keep your job and then it’s a strain.”

2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship
Peter Malnati lines up a putt on the third green during the second round of the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda. (Photo: Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

In theory, there was something for players of all skill levels to play for – even the top 50 could earn additional years to their exempt status and qualify for tournaments such as the Masters and the Sentry with a win if not already in those fields – but was it a win-win for fans and sponsors too? Only a used car salesman could make that sell, and it begs the question: will the Tour continue to secure sponsors willing to foot the bill for tournaments where the big names barely played, if at all?

Several pros expressed their concern for the future of the fall schedule, which will become increasingly important for players fighting for status for the upcoming season.

“It’s tough for me to see how it’s going to be sustainable,” said Mark Hubbard, one of six players to compete in all seven fall tournaments. “For me, I think there was a noticeable difference in the tournaments and just like how much the course kind of rolled out the red carpet for us and whatnot, you know, just little stuff like courtesy cars or hotel room blocks or the food. Everything just kind of felt like they were probably trying to save a little bit of money because they’re not getting, you know, the turnout, they’re not getting the big names.”

He continued: “I feel bad for a lot of those tournaments like a Jackson (Mississippi, home of the Sanderson Farms Championship) that have worked so hard to become a great event and, you know, now they’re gonna get zero of the top guys coming to their event, ever. It’s just tough for me to see how those [$8 million] purses are going to stay high and, you know, those tournaments are going to want to continue to be big events and there’s just no one coming there.”

“We have a lot of great events this time of year and if they want to host a PGA Tour event they should be allowed and the membership should support it,” veteran pro Ryan Armour said. “A lot of the top guys were looking for time off and if this is what they want, they got it.”

The lack of big names was most pronounced in Las Vegas, where several local pros elected to skip this year, and a sponsor exemption given to the LPGA Tour’s Lexi Thompson brought some much-needed attention.

“More guys would show up for Vegas, for Napa, it’s unfortunate for the events, for the fans and at least locally, it kind of sucks,” said Doug Ghim.

“Vegas is one of the biggest changes. Last year I wouldn’t have gotten in and this year I was in by 20 or something,” said Kramer Hickok.

But Davis Love III, who has hosted the RSM Classic in the fall for the last 14 years, said he’s seen several iterations of the fall during his 30-plus-year career that landed him in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and expects the fall portion of the schedule to continue to evolve.

“It hasn’t looked the same in any five-year period for a long, maybe my whole career,” Love said last week. “Hopefully, it just continues to improve, they come up with new ideas … I think it’s just going to continue to improve, but I don’t know what that is.”

The Tour can only hope that whatever it dreams up next will generate a collection of stories and winners as good as this year.

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Kramer Hickok saw others like Max Homa winning and decided to change coaches (and it’s working so far at Valspar)

If you can’t beat ’em, hire the same coach. That’s the logic Hickok implemented last fall when he moved to swing coach Mark Blackburn.

If you can’t beat ’em, hire the same coach.

That’s the logic Kramer Hickok implemented last fall when he made a move to work with swing coach Mark Blackburn, who has seen success with players like Max Homa, Chez Reavie, Kevin Chappell, Sean O’Hair, Charley Hoffman, J.J. Spaun. Harris English, and recently, Justin Rose.

But this was no quick fix. Despite occasional flashes of brilliance, like an exhausting eight-hole playoff loss to Harris English at the 2021 Travelers Championship, the former University of Texas star had developed some bad habits that weren’t quick to disappear, even under Blackburn’s tutelage.

After missing eight straight cuts, Hickok finally stuck around for the weekend at the Genesis Invitational in February, using a pair of 69s in the opening two rounds to garner a top-30 finish.

He fared even better at the Honda Classic, finishing T-14 after posting an impressive 66 on Saturday. And although he didn’t really get in contention last week at the Players Championship, he made his third straight cut.

And this week at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, Hickok’s sights are set even higher. After a second consecutive 68, he was among the leaders after the early wave of Friday’s action at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

“It’s just a process. I switched coaches back in the fall and I’m just making some swing changes, and so when I get in tournaments, it sort of reverts back to my bad habits,” Hickok said of working with Blackburn. “So I can do it really well on the range, but when I get to the golf course, things sort of go back to the old pattern. So it’s just kind of trusting those feels and just really almost feeling like I need to exaggerate some of the feels to get to where I want to be.

“But it’s just a process. It gets more comfortable for me every week. It’s certainly better than it was last week and it’s better than it was a week before. So it’s just coming along.”

Hickok still made a few mistakes on Friday, including a pair of chips that led to bogeys on Nos. 2 and 16, but he’s 6 under through the opening two rounds, and was just a shot behind leader Adam Schenk after the early players left the course. And there are some familiar names around Hickok on the leaderboard as Jordan Spieth and Cody Gribble, his teammates on the University of Texas’ 2012 NCAA Championship team, are also in the hunt.

But for now, Hickok isn’t thinking about college reunions or celebration speeches. He’s simply trying to keep it simple and let his hot putter make a difference.

“I’ve been putting really nice. Really just seeing the lines really well and hitting some good putts. I don’t really feel like I’m playing that well tee to green, but just keeping the ball in front of me and really just scoring pretty well,” he said. “So I like this golf course a lot. It suits my game. You don’t have to have a lot of power, just kind of fetch it around and hit it pretty straight.

“I like the way I’m sitting right now, but need to go work on the swing a little bit and kind of get back to how it was feeling back on Wednesday and Tuesday.”

That means working with the system Blackburn put in place. And what exactly was it that drew Hickok to work with his new coach?

“His guys were playing really well. So Max Homa has been playing great. Chez Reavie seems to win every other year. Trey Mullinax won last year. He’s got Justin Rose, he won this year,” Hickok said. “So I just tried to follow the hot hand and he’s really helped me a lot, so I’m really excited about our path together.”

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Golf: Here’s a list of the 7 longest playoffs in the history of the PGA Tour

Kramer Hickok went shot-for-shot with veteran Harris English in one of the most draining and fascinating playoffs.

Kramer Hickok, Jordan Spieth’s former Texas roommate and later his Dallas housemate, went shot-for-shot with veteran Harris English in one of the most draining and fascinating playoffs in the history of the PGA Tour during the 2021 Travelers Championship.

Hickok buried a number of key putts down the stretch and although he lost on the eighth playoff hole, he clearly had won over the crowd at TPC River Highlands, many of whom chanted his name as the playoff wore on.

Hickok thought he had the tournament won on two different occasions. With English plugged in a greenside bunker on the second playoff hole, Hickok started to pump his fist as it appeared a 43-foot birdie putt was going in, but it curled around the cup and lipped out. His par was virtually guaranteed, putting all the pressure on English, but the former University of Georgia All-American drained the seven-footer to save par and extend the playoff.

Here’s a look at the seven longest playoffs in the history of the PGA Tour:

Kramer Hickok made the most amazing bogey at the 2022 PGA Championship

What Kramer Hickok did at the par-4 12th hole Saturday at the PGA Championship was simply amazing.

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TULSA, Okla. — Those who made the weekend at the 2022 PGA Championship were welcomed by cold, damp, windy conditions in the third round.

For those finding themselves in one of the grainy, pebbly bunkers at Southern Hills, unpredictability lies ahead.

Which makes what Kramer Hickok did at the par-4 12th hole Saturday all the more amazing.

Hickok’s approach to the 456-yard hole found the left greenside bunker. His ball was plugged pretty deep and from awkward stance, he took a good lash at the ball. But the ball caught the lip, came back towards him, hit him on the foot—which is no longer a rules violation, by the way; that was changed when the New Rules of Golf were implemented at the start of 2019—and came to rest in his foot indentation.

PGA: How to watch | ESPN+ streaming | Leaderboard | Saturday tee times

For swing four, Hickok again hit the edge of the bunker and failed to get out.

But he kept his cool and took a fifth swing at the ball. This time, he got out and sent it rolling towards the flagstick on the far side of the green.

And then a little bit of magic happened as Hickok’s ball found the jar for a bogey 5. It was his fifth bogey of the day but nonetheless earned him a little congratulations from his playing partner Jon Rahm.

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Dusek: A marathon in Connecticut served as a reminder of what golf is truly about

Bandon Dunes, Jon Rahm at Torrey, and the Travelers Championship: This is my year in golf.

A year ago, as I sat down to write about my year in golf, the image of a bedsheet hanging off a deck at TPC River Highlands popped into my head.

It had been painted with the words “Hope, Love, Golf” during the Travelers Championship, the third PGA Tour event held after the re-start of the 2020 season. At that point, 18 million people in the United States had been infected with the coronavirus and 320,000 had died. As I type this, the Omicron variant has gained a hold, the Delta variant is still everywhere, holiday plans are being changed and it looks like we are in for another winter of wearing masks, encouraging people to get vaccinated (and boosted), and dreaming this will all go away. More than 50 million Americans have been infected, and 800,000 have died during this pandemic.

And yet, golf is thriving. Tee times are nearly as tough to get as new equipment at your local pro shop. Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele won gold medals at the Olympics, Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters and the Americans won the Ryder Cup. Rory McIlroy is still my hero. Tiger Woods, somehow, just played in the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, after nearly losing his right leg in a car accident in February.

I achieved my goal of at least hitting balls outside every month of the year, which as a New Englander, is not easy. I made it back to Bandon Dunes and played The Sheep Ranch, got in another round at Winged Foot, walked behind Jensen Castle at Westchester Country Club as she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and was thrilled to see my wife take up the game.

David Dusek at Bandon Dune's Sheep Ranch
David Dusek at Bandon Dune’s Sheep Ranch. “You want me to hit it where?”

It would be tempting to say that the best event I saw in person in 2021 was the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South. Quibble all you like about the course, but as a venue, Torrey Pines is spectacular, and seeing Jon Rahm make sensational birdie putts on Sunday to defeat Louis Oosthuizen down the stretch, then kiss his 2½-month old son, Kepa, on Father’s Day when he realized he’d won was perfect.

But the next week, back at TPC River Highlands, was even better. 

On a Sunday when Kevin Kisner shot 63, Marc Leishman signed for a 64 that put him into the lead at 12 under, Harris English and Kramer Hickok wound up tied at 13 under. As the late afternoon turned into a beautiful summer evening, they played the 18th hole, then played it again and again and again. Hickok arrived in Cromwell, Connecticut, as an unknown, but that evening the crowd ringing the 18th green was cheering his name, doing the wave and “staying hydrated” with local microbrews.

English won on the eighth playoff hole, but what made the scene even more special than the longevity of the playoff was Hickok’s reaction afterward. His parents had flown in from Texas, his wife, Anne, was there, too, and she’d brought Elvis, the couple’s black labrador retriever puppy. 

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After Elvis stole the show during Hickok’s post-round interview, the family was gathered near the clubhouse, nearly speechless and taking in the day. Duty called, and I chatted with Kramer about the experience. Then his wife approached and asked if I would take a few pictures of everyone. Seeing everyone’s pride in Kramer’s effort, his sportsmanship, and his genuine joy in nearly achieving his dream was inspiring.

The world would be a better place if we all had an attitude like Hickok’s. After giving his all and coming up short, even though he was tired, he didn’t complain or hang his head. He took joy in trying his best and surrounded himself with people who support and love him.

I’m thankful golf reminded me that’s what it’s all about.

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Harris English wins wild Travelers Championship in eight-hole playoff against Kramer Hickok

English won with a birdie on the eighth playoff hole.

Seventy-two holes weren’t enough to decide the winner of the 2021 Travelers Championship.

Turns out neither were 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 or even 79.

Thanks to a pair of clutch birdie putts in regulation on the 18th green at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, Harris English and Kramer Hickok found themselves in the longest playoff of the PGA Tour season on Sunday evening. Playoff birdies were at a premium as the two played eight extra holes between Nos. 17 and 18, each making par to extend the never-ending tournament.

English finally earned the title with a birdie on the eighth playoff hole for his fourth win on the PGA Tour and second of the year following his January victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Travelers Championship: Leaderboard | Photos

English got the playoff party started by making a 28-footer for birdie to reach 13 under and take the clubhouse lead from then-leader Marc Leishman, who was already in at 12 under. Playing in the final group, Hickok joined English at 13 under with a birdie putt of his own from inside nine feet, forcing the sudden-death playoff.

“I’ve known him since I was 12. He’s one of the hardest working players I’ve ever known,” said Jordan Spieth of his fellow Longhorn, Hickok. “He’s a great friend, he’s meant a lot to me. He’s earned this.”

Leishman finished third following a Sunday 6-under 64, followed by Abraham Ancer in solo fourth at 11 under with five players rounding out the top five all at 10 under: Kevin Kisner, Brooks Koepka, Hank Lebioda, Brian Harman and Brice Garnett.

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Bubba Watson, Kramer Hickok top crowded leaderboard at windy Travelers Championship

Every year, the pros on the PGA Tour torch TPC River Highlands with low scores. That continues this year.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Every year, the pros on the PGA Tour torch TPC River Highlands with low scores. Par on the 6,802-yard layout is 70, but 63s fly around here like the redtail hawks over the nearby Connecticut River. On Friday, Charley Hoffman, Kevin Kisner and Justin Rose all carded a 63. Jason Day, an overnight co-leader, shot 62 on Friday.

Saturday, however, Mother Nature provided a measure of protection. After two days of stillness in the air and softness on the greens, a swirling wind gusted to 25 miles per hour around the course. Good scores could still be had, but players had to be more careful. They had to trust that the wind would be consistent for a few moments. Sometimes it complied, but on other occasions, it didn’t.

Kramer Hickok was breezing along on Saturday and after making birdies at 14 and 15, he had a two-shot lead at the Travelers Championship. Then bogeys at 17 and 18 dropped him back to 10-under par and with 18 more holes to play Sunday, he is now tied with three-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson on top of the leaderboard.

Travelers Championship: Tee times, TV | Leaderboard | Photos

They have a one-shot advantage over Cameron Smith, Russell Henley and Jason Day, who are at 9-under par. Harris English, Brice Garnett, and K.H. Lee are two shots back at 8 under.

“The first two rounds were pretty negligent with the wind, then we played adding 20 to 25 yards on some shots,” Hickok said after signing for 68. “I had 170 yards into 16 and hit a 6-iron. Sometimes it’s hard to commit to that with water short and trouble long, and you’re hoping that the wind stays fresh. If it dies down, you’re 20 yards over the green. So, it just makes it tough. You just got to time it right and it hit the shot you’re trying to hit.”

Watson is a crowd favorite here, and he will get overwhelming support again Sunday. But he has to hit the shots, not the fans outside the ropes.

“When you’re playing in the afternoon you know the challenge ahead of you. Even though it seems like a birdieable course, when it gets windy like this, it’s very tough,” he said.

Henley, who has shot 67-66-68 this week, was a co-leader last week after three rounds at the U.S. Open. Paired with Rory McIlroy in the penultimate group, he shot 76 and finished T-13. Still, he learned something at Torrey Pines that could help him win his fourth PGA Tour event Sunday.

“I can handle more pressure than I thought I could,” he said Saturday evening. “In contention, I feel like I’ve been able to handle it and win a few times out here, but last week was more pressure than I’ve experienced. So that gives me confidence.”

In all, there are 14 players within three shots of Hickok, who has never won a PGA Tour event, and Watson, who made two birdies and three bogeys on the back nine Saturday. On a course that has yielded the PGA Tour’s only 58, that means the group of pros with a legitimate chance at winning is massive.

That group includes Dustin Johnson, who shot the low round of the day, a 65, and Bryson DeChambeau, who shot 68. Both of those major champions will start the final round three shots behind the leaders at 7 under.

“It’s going to take 7 or 8 under for sure tomorrow, which can happen out here,” DeChambeau said Saturday afternoon. “You’ve just got to execute shots and be confident and make some good putts.”

Before heading to his car, Day explained what it is going to take to win on Sunday.

“It’s crucial to have a good back-side tomorrow. If you can hole the 10- to 15-footers out there tomorrow, someone from three or four back could win this,” he said. “I feel like this tournament yields a lot of winners that way.”

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Jordan Spieth’s former roommate, Kramer Hickok, grabs early lead in Travelers Championship

Kramer Hickok’s passage to the PGA Tour was anything but typical and so was his flight to the top of the Travelers leaderboard.

Kramer Hickok used to live in Jordan Spieth’s home in Dallas.

Then he moved on to rule the roost on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada in 2017 when he earned the circuit’s player-of-the-year honors by winning twice and finishing second three times en route to capturing the Order of Merit.

The following year, he won the DAP Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour to secure his first PGA Tour card.

And on Thursday, he took up residence atop the leaderboard in the first round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. After an opening-hole bogey, Hickok birdied eight of his last 14 holes at TPC River Highlands to sign for a career-best, 7-under-par 63 as he searches for his first PGA Tour title.

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While Hickok’s passage to the PGA Tour was anything but typical, so, too, was his flight to the top of the leaderboard. Hickok felt lost on the practice rounds ahead of the first round and was forced to make a change.

“I got off to like the worst warmup session of the year this morning and was just hitting it everywhere, and so I really changed my strategy,” said Hickok, 29. “I was just trying to play a little bit more conservative, hit greens, and once the putts started to fall, I just knew it really freed me up.

“I was hitting a lot of good putts. I really only hit one bad putt on the par-5 13, and other than that, I just felt like the holes looked awfully big today.”

Hickok’s clubhouse lead midway through the first round was one shot over Talor Gooch. Maverick McNealy, Henrik Norlander, Brice Garrett and Beau Hossler were two back at 65.

“It’s been a very difficult year for me,” Hossler said. “I made significant changes this off-season in my golf swing that were in my opinion absolutely necessary. Dana Dahlquist has helped me tremendously. Do a ton of work with him. I am very thankful for that.  With that said, unfortunately you feel like you have it and then it doesn’t show up in the tournament or whatever it may be.

“It’s a matter of getting comfortable in all different situations, wind directions, pin locations. Fortunately, I think I’m trending in that direction.”

World No. 6 Bryson DeChambeau shot 69, No. 7 Patrick Cantlay 68, and No. 9 Patrick Reed 69.

Hickok and Spieth met as freshman at the University of Texas in 2011. While Spieth turned pro a year later to begin his journey toward piling up Tour titles and major championships, Hickok graduated in 2015 with a degree in geography.

Hickok still had his sights set on playing professional golf and at the outset of that quest, Spieth extended an invitation to move into his house. Hickok said it was a helpful gesture as he set out to make his way in the golf world.

It’s been an educational journey for Hickok and the learning doesn’t end, the latest case in point being what to do when your range session is awful.

“It’s funny, because whenever that happens you hear guys shoot course records and shoot their best rounds. I don’t know if it’s a mentality, you just take a lot weight off your shoulders and you just go and simplify things. That’s what I did,” he said. “I just said, you know what? I got my C game, but just by recognizing that I had my C game I was able to play to an A level today. And certainly 7 under is my A game.

“I had a few shots in the bag today and I worked with them today and the flat stick got going, so I was able to make it work. We did a really good job of just staying in the moment, staying patient, and just taking our chances when we had them.”

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Kramer Hickok, Henrik Norlander test positive for COVID-19, withdraw from RSM Classic

Kramer Hickok and Henrik Norlander tested positive for COVID-19 and have withdrawn from the RSM Classic.

Entering this week at Sea Island, just 16 players had tested positive for COVID-19 since the PGA Tour resumed play back in June after a 13-week hiatus due to the pandemic.

Three names have been added to that list in just the last two days.

As part of the Tour’s pre-tournament screening process ahead of this week’s RSM Classic, Kramer Hickok and Henrik Norlander tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and have withdrawn from the event. Bill Haas tested positive on Tuesday and withdrew.

“Obviously, I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play this week, as I am playing well and love the courses at Sea Island,” said Hickok. “Nonetheless, I look forward to returning to The RSM Classic next year.”

RSM Classic: Tee times | Fantasy rankings | Betting odds

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“After noticing some symptoms last night, I was tested this morning for COVID-19 and unfortunately received the positive result,” said Norlander. “While I’m disappointed to withdraw from a tournament where I’ve had success at in the past, I’m grateful I can drive home to Augusta and have next week to get healthy and be ready to compete again.”

Rhein Gibson replaces Hickok and Ryan Brehm replaces Norlander.

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Kramer Hickok on experimenting with a 48-inch driver: ‘It’s like swinging a sledgehammer’

Kramer Hickok discusses why he is experimenting with using a 48-inch driver in competition in order to gain additional distance.

Bryson DeChambeau isn’t the only PGA Tour player considering using a 48-inch driver.

Kramer Hickok, who will enter the final round of the Bermuda Championship trailing leader Doc Redman by one stroke, experimented with the maximum legal limit for club length recently and noted he gained 8 miles per hour in ball speed, though he elected not to use the driver in competition this week.

“I think there’s a big speed surge right now and certainly Bryson is instrumental in I think having all these guys go after speed now,” Hickok said. “I think just the advantage of length is just so huge and astronomical that if you can get an extra 10 to 15 yards, sometimes you’re taking out a bunker. Obviously, you’ve got to hit it straight.”

DeChambeau, who manhandled Winged Foot at the U.S. Open in September, is working on adding a 48-inch driver to his bag in time for the Masters, which begins November 12. Hickock said his dispersion was minimal and that the ability to drive the ball farther would consequently result in shorter approach shots. Even if he hit the ball in the rough it likely would be advantageous to hit a wedge from the rough rather than an 8-iron from the fairway.

“I’m not necessarily a short hitter, but I’m not a long one, but I hit it straight so I was just trying to mess around. I just wanted to see if I can get maybe an extra 15 yards of carry and still be able to control it,” Hickok said.

“I got my ball speed up about 8 miles an hour with it, but there’s so much that you have to change when you add length to a driver. The head weight, swing weight’s off, you’ve got to actually make the club flatter. It’s just a lot of tinkering going on. I just wasn’t able to get it done before coming here, but it’s a work in process.”

Hickok, who lives in Dallas, has been working with Artisan Golf on his equipment and said he used a 47-1/2-inch Callaway Maverick driver.

“I had my same shaft, just tipped an inch and that was as long as they could get it for me. Throwing my head directly into a 48-inch driver, my swing weight went from D-3 to E-6, which is, if anyone knows golf, that’s unbelievable. That’s like swinging a sledgehammer.

“So, I took all the weight out and I was able to get my swing speed up about 10 to 12 miles an hour, but then the smash factor wasn’t there because there’s not enough mass in the head. We’re going to mess around with a 46-and-a-half, 47-inch driver next week whenever I’m home just to kind of find some happy medium. If I can control it, great. I mean, length is not a bad thing. And if I can’t, then I’ll just keep hitting my driver the way I do.”

Hickok has recorded just one top-10 finish in his 52 Tour starts. It came at the 2019 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (T-10), but he poised to improve upon that finish and perhaps a whole lot more if he can play well on Sunday in Bermuda.

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